


Heart on His Sleeve

by happylilthought



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Prom, Romance, Slow Burn, chalex - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25384717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happylilthought/pseuds/happylilthought
Summary: Charlie gets the football team to help him with his prom proposals.
Relationships: Charlie St. George & Alex Standall, Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52





	Heart on His Sleeve

**Author's Note:**

> [A/N: Some fluffy Chalex mostly from Charlie's POV about planning his prom proposals. I adore Charlie and want to learn more or write more characterization for him, so please let me know your feedback! I find it really encouraging and it definitely makes me want to write more hearing whether or not you like the story. XO <3]

“That’s really lame, St. George” 

Charlie had interrupted the normal cafeteria table discussions of whose study notes they needed to cheat on their history test, what party they were going to on the weekend, and who was getting creamed in their latest COD battle to discuss the matter at hand - The perfect way to ask Alex Standall to prom. 

“No it isn’t.” Luke piped in, defending the sophomore. “St. George would do anything to help us out. That’s what we do. We’re a team, we’re a family and that means you man up and help St. George get his man.” Luke smiled wide, elbowing Charlie in the ribs, and slamming his hand on the table. “The real question is, are we getting cookies out of it?” 

Charlie beamed, nodding enthusiastically. “Of course. You tell me what kind, and I’ll make ‘em tomorrow. I really appreciate your help. I want to make this really nice.” He smiled shyly, avoiding the sets of eyes on him, shuffling the toe of his shoe against the linoleum. 

Diego gripped Charlie’s shoulders, coming up behind the team. “What are we teasing St. George about now?” 

“St. George needs help with his prom proposal.” Beecher advised. “And we’re getting paid in cookies.”

“Good, I need help asking Jess.” Diego smiled, shoving his way in, and sitting on the other side of Charlie. “You’re the most romantic of all us, St. George, why do you need our help?” He taunted, noticing Charlie’s nervousness.

“It’s really important to me.” He confessed meekly, only raising his eyes after Luke elbowed him again. 

“Hey, come on man, we got this!”

Beecher agreed, voicing his enthusiasm. “Yeah, what do you need from us? You want us to grab him?” Glancing around the cafeteria, he noticed the object of Charlie’s affections sitting with Tyler Down and Clay Jensen. “Hey Standall-!”

“Shut the fuck up, Beecher!” Diego yelled, shoving him to make his point. “Not here, you idiot! This is a big deal. Who are you asking to prom?”

Beecher fumbled, shrugging and picking at his lunch in defeat. “I don’t know. I might not even go.” 

“It’s prom man, you have to go.” Luke encouraged. “It’s like a right of passage. It’s lame not to go.” He rolled his eyes, shifting his gaze to Robby who originally fought the idea.

“It’s fine guys, I just need some help setting everything up. I think I know how I want to ask him but I can’t do it all by myself.” Charlie sighed, working up the courage to admit he needed assistance if he was going to pull this off. 

“This isn’t going to be weird, is it? Like we don’t have to be there when you ask him, and watch you kiss, right?” Beecher asked, 

“No!” All four of them protested.

“Ok tell us what you need.” Diego smiled, encouraging Charlie to confess his plans to the team. 

~

“If I would’ve known this was gonna be some arts and crafts project, I think I would’ve changed my mind.” Luke grumbled, struggling to colour in the bubble letters. “My hand hurts. We’ve been doing this for hours.” 

“Good thing the cookies are out of the oven!” Charlie grinned widely, presenting a tray of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with oven mitt hands. 

“Ooh!” Luke dropped the blue coloured marker in favour of snagging a warm cookie. “Fuck! Those are still hot.” 

“Duh.” Diego smirked, finishing off his letters. “How many more of these do we have to do?” 

Charlie tossed a trivet on the table and set down the cookie tray. He glanced at the yellow banners around the living room. “Two more. I have to catch his attention first. I can’t just have a banner saying “Hey Alex, will you go to prom with me? There has to be a lead up. I asked Tyler to print out some pictures for me. I think I’m going to put them up in the main hallway so he can read them while he walks to his locker.” 

“Fine, you colour in these letters, I’m having a cookie.” Beecher whined, leaving the green markers on his banner and swapping places with Charlie. 

“This is really cool man. I bet he’ll love it.” Diego smiled, mouth full of crumbs. “Thanks for the cookies.” 

“It’s no trouble, thank you for helping me.” Charlie grinned, grabbing Beecher’s marker and finishing off the final banner. 

Would Alex even say yes? What if he was serious about not wanting to go to prom? What if he was embarrassed to go with Charlie? What if he flat-out said no? The anxiety was wracking Charlie’s brain, and he made a mental note to check-in with Tyler after the guys left.

~

“What do you mean he didn’t say yes?” Luke scoffed, frowning at Charlie’s defeated demeanour. 

“I waited behind that door for half an hour St. George, making sure the timing was right!” Beecher pouted, shoving his clothes in his gym bag as the boys got ready for football practice.

“Well, he didn’t say anything. He didn’t notice.” Charlie shrugged, lacing his cleats. “How you couldn’t notice my handsome self standing at the end of the hallway with a bouquet of flowers and balloons surprises me, but I’ll just have to try again.”

“Wait, we have to do this again?” Beecher groaned. “You owe us more than cookies, St. George.”

“Name your price.” Charlie grinned, “I like the challenge.”

~

“Is he coming yet?” 

“My hand’s getting tired from holding his stupid popsicle stick.”

“I can’t believe this is how you’re asking him to prom.”

“This is kind of weird, Charlie.”

“Shut up! Here he comes!”

Alex entered the room and was met with twenty versions of his boyfriend’s face all asking him to prom. Visibly disturbed, he muttered a dismissive “Well, that’s just creepy” and quickly left the classroom.

Charlie lowered the paper version of his face, and his heart sank as he watched the door close behind Alex. He wasn’t thinking this through. This had to be perfect, and it had to be tasteful. Something Alex would love and remember and obviously the flashy in-your-face proposals were not working.

~

“You do realize how much ink and toner you’ve cost the Yearbook Committee, Charlie?” Tyler smirked at Charlie’s dramatic display of woundedness lying on the couch in the lounge as Tyler fiddled with the outline of the prom spread. 

“I’ll pay for it.” He groaned, the sound muffled by the pillow over his head. “I can’t believe that didn’t work.”

“I liked your first idea better.” Tyler smiled. “But you’ll figure it out.” He turned his attention away from the computer to walk over to the couch and pull the pillow from Charlie’s face. “Come on, let’s think up something really good.” 

“Okay…” Charlie sighed, lifting himself off the couch and sitting properly. “I want it to be romantic. I don’t want to make a big scene again, and I can’t ask him at home, that would be too weird. I just met his family, so I don’t want to make things awkward by going to his house.” 

“Just speak from the heart.” Tyler encouraged. “I uh… I asked Estela to go to prom with me.” Tyler confessed shyly, smiling to himself at the reminder.

“You did! Tyler, that’s great! What did she say?” Charlie’s defeated demeanour brightened immediately at the good news from his friend. 

“She said yes.” Tyler smiled warmly. “We were looking over some photos I had printed, and we were just talking and I just mustered up the courage to ask her. At first I was scared she wasn’t going to say yes, because she’s a sophomore, but she said yes...I’m really glad she did. I like her.” He confessed quietly, earning a wide smile from Charlie, before being engulfed in a hug from the taller boy.

“Tyler, I’m so happy for you, man! That’s awesome!” Charlie loosened his grip, recoiling as he remembered Tyler might not have wanted that surge of physical contact. “I’m sorry, I-”

Tyler shook his head, rubbing his arm as if he was brushing off the incident. “It’s okay… I know you were excited.” 

Charlie swallowed, lowering his eyes and offering his hand instead. Tyler cautiously took hold of it in forgiveness. “It doesn’t excuse that fact I invaded your personal space. I’m sorry, Tyler. I’ll be more careful.” 

Tyler nodded, giving Charlie’s hand a squeeze before letting it go. “I appreciate that.” 

“I’m really glad for you, though.” Charlie smiled softly, pleased to see Tyler’s confidence had grown in the past year, and that he had found another person to share his life with. 

“Me too.”

~

“The batteries are out of this one.” Beecher advised, setting aside the candle in the pile, as he tested the next set. 

“Where did you even find all of these lights, anyway?” Luke asked, handing up another string along the bookshelf. 

“My house, the theatre room, some discounted dollar stores.” Charlie shrugged, looping the lights along his cut-out wording of ‘PROM?’ At least the banners hadn’t totally gone to waste. 

“I think he’s really going to like this.” Jess encouraged, lacing lights along the shelves. “I’m glad you asked for my help.” 

“As intimidating as you are, you’re Alex’s best friend.” Charlie admitted, biting back his former fears.

“And his ex.” Luke reminded, earning a wiggle of the ladder from Diego. “What the fuck?” 

Diego adjusted his hold on the ladder, but shook his head glaring at Luke. “Shut up, man.”

“Well after I heard you tried to propose to him with cut-outs of your face. I knew you needed help.” Jess teased, plugging in the strand of lights into the wall. “Perfect.” 

After the second prom proposal had gone awry, Charlie approached Jessica for advice following his conversation with Tyler. Jessica knew Alex better than anyone, and surely she would give her opinion on his third idea. 

Jess had appreciated the thoughtfulness that Charlie had put into his plan, even admiring the assistance he had from the football team, and an excuse to spend extra time with Diego didn’t hurt. She was still figuring him out, and seeing him be supportive of his friends was encouraging, but she still wasn’t ready to make a decision.

“What time do his service hours start again? I have to be home for dinner.” Luke inquired, climbing down the ladder at a painfully slow rate, watching out for Diego’s retaliation.

“He should be here at five.” Charlie advised, finishing off the question mark, eager for a positive answer, any answer at this point. 

All he could do now was put his heart on the line, and show Alex how much he cared and wanted to be with him. He’d already agreed to be his boyfriend, so Charlie didn’t doubt he would agree to be his prom date, but the nerves didn’t cease. 

~

“So, are you going solo with us St. George, or did Standall say yes?” Diego inquired. 

The football team had finished their practice, and it had been killing Charlie not to blurt out the good news to everyone.

A wide grin spread across Charlie’s face. “He said yes!” 

“Of course he did! Who could say no to you?” Luke smiled ruffling Charlie’s hair, as the team pulled him in for a grossly sweaty group hug. 

“Well, I mean, Alex could have.” Charlie smirked, thankful that he didn’t. 

“We’re so glad for you, man!” Diego beamed, resting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. No matter the hurt he was going through, it was encouraging to see things work out for his friend.

“Don’t ask us favours any time soon. I’ve had enough of romantic gestures.” Beecher teased. 

Charlie smiled taking in the support from his teammates and friends. Despite the confidence he exuded, there was always a threat that Alex could have rejected him. He could have rejected him after the first kiss, the question of being his boyfriend, the question of prom. Charlie knew that threat wouldn’t fully go away, but all he could do was be himself and build off the trust the pair had already built up throughout the summer. All he could do was show Alex how much he cared for him, and how much he loved him, and support him no matter the reaction.

**Author's Note:**

> [A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! I was rewatching the prom episode and really wanted to delve into how Charlie managed to complete the three prom proposals, and write some fluff and supportive relationships. 
> 
> I plan on writing more Chalex fics! I have a few ideas including some angst fics; Charlie questioning Alex's relationship with Winston; a little one-shot of Charlie confessing to Tyler his feelings for Alex; and some smut. 
> 
> So please share your suggestions of what you'd like to see next, or at all! XO <3]


End file.
